Do you keep a "Go Bag"?

[Koolau]

This thread has made me take the time to review our "plan" for natural disasters. For anything other than a major tsunami, we would shelter in place. Our concrete egg-crate should mostly survive almost any storm - at least as well as the shelters on the Island. Most shelters are chosen because they are not in flood zones - not because of their solid structures. They may not survive high winds any better than our building. We're high enough, it's unlikely we'd be taken out by flooding, so having stocks in the apartment is probably good enough.

For a tsunami bigger than 60+ feet, we might either drive or walk up the mountain to a couple of hundred feet. At that point, a go-bag would be handy to have but even a few bottles of water would probably be all we would really need.

On a 600 square mile Island, there are not a lot of places to "go" in an emergency. During the March 11 Tsunami alert, they closed the main roads out of the area, so the only place to "go" was up.

 

[old medic]

Would however take an hour or so to load up the camper and fill the water tank before heading out.

We were camping when Helene hit here at the house.... So we filled with water before heading home... and the battery chainsaw came in handy getting home. the normally hour+ trip took almost 4 hours.

 

[Nuke]

We were camping when Helene hit here at the house.... So we filled with water before heading home... and the battery chainsaw came in handy getting home. the normally hour+ trip took almost 4 hours.

What brand of battery chainsaw do you have and do you like it?

 

[old medic]

What brand of battery chainsaw do you have and do you like it?

20 Volt 10 in Black & Decker with 2 6AH batteries. Its done a great job over the last 3 years. There are better ones out there but already had a bunch of B&D 20V stuff.

 

[Nuke]

20 Volt 10 in Black & Decker with 2 6AH batteries. Its done a great job over the last 3 years. There are better ones out there but already had a bunch of B&D 20V stuff.

Thanks. I'm heavy into the DeWalt system and will likely stay with them. I only want a battery powered saw for very occasional work when I go camping.

 

[CO-guy]

I know what you mean by a "go-bag" and kept one in the back of my vehicle from the age of 17 until my late 20s. The ability to just pick-up and disappear into the wilderness in an instant was liberating, either alone or with friends. The backpack had all the essentials including a few days of MREs, water tabs, tent, sleeping bag, extensive first aid, warm clothes, and other survival equipment. With a quick pitstop at a mini-mart I could disappear into the Adirondacks or Catskills for week or two at a time.

Nowadays, we have two stackable boxes: One is the kitchen and the other is the pantry. Kitchen is fully stocked with stove, fuel, cookware, lighting, and extensive first aid. Pantry has at least two weeks of freeze dried meals for two people along with various coffees, teas and accompaniments. Tent, bedding, chairs, tables and J-cans are on the same shelf in the garage. To go camping, we just put everything on the shelf into the vehicle and load up the dogs.

 

[More Cowbell]

As I declutter in preparation for my move, I went through my "Go Bag" today (a rubbermaid container revealingly labeled "Y2K".) I had apparently gone through it a few years ago, because all the food was removed except for a jar of instant coffee, a jar of cooking oil, and a tin of sardines, and because the "change of clothing" all fit. Need to add some fresh batteries and a tiny box of cat litter and a list of things to grab.

Do any of you still keep a "go bag"?

Yes I keep a go bag.

But since you're decluttering in preparation for an impending move, consider repurposing the container as an "unpack this first" container. This would be for stuff you need to get by in your new place to tide you over until you unpack boxes and find a home for their contents.

After you're settled in, then check the office if emergency services website for your new county/parish/burough to get the go-bag recommendations for your new location.

Decluttering is hard, and even harder for a big move! I find listening to podcasts helps with motivation until you build momentum.

 

[Dash man]

After two surprise hospitalizations this past summer, I’m keeping a bag with changes of clothes, toiletries, spare glasses and assorted cords needed for charging my iPhone, ear buds and iPad.

 

[FireBug]

No...I do not have a 'go bag'

 

[old medic]

Thanks. I'm heavy into the DeWalt system and will likely stay with them. I only want a battery powered saw for very occasional work when I go camping.

If you already have the batteries..... I got mine for to take camping and kayaking trips... It works so well I use it more around the house than the gas one.

 

[Nuke]

If you already have the batteries..... I got mine for to take camping and kayaking trips... It works so well I use it more around the house than the gas one.

How do you waterproof it for kayaking trips?

I have no trees on my massive 6,000 sq foot slice of SoCal and so I don't worry about having a chainsaw for the old homestead. I do like to get into the wilderness and there are occasionally some trees blown down that have to be dealt with. Hence my interest in a battery powered chainsaw; no gas to worry about going bad.

 

[old medic]

How do you waterproof it for kayaking trips?

HD garbage bag, Bar scabbard comes in handy.... Also bring a Banjo most the times. These were several day flat water paddle trips, no real rapids.... After cutting several fair sized strainers with a handsaw... $99 was a good investment.
We have 2 dozen + trees down on our 4 acers after Helene...

 

[harley]

I've currently got a go-bag for the hoped for day when they call me for a kidney transplant. Loose clothes, some meds, earbuds and charger for the phone, a few toiletries, some copies of medical documents, that sort of stuff.

Never had one for when we lived in FL. We left every year before hurricane season started, and came back after it was over.

Back in my w*rking days, I had a stay-bag in my car. Had a couple of times when I was stranded on the DC beltway in a snow storm. Some ready to eat food, a couple of blankets, a book, a flashlight, some cash, and a bottle of whiskey were all very appreciated when I had to turn off the car to keep from running out of gas. Only had to use it a couple of times, but I'm glad I had it when I needed it.

 

[stepford]

Not a go bag, but an evacuation packing list. I was reminded of this again over the last couple of days when a big wildfire blew up in my area. As has always (so far) been the case, it missed me by miles - but it was close enough that I kept an eye on it all day. We've never had to evacuate, but I've been ready a couple of times.

PS. We get pretty good at analyzing wind patterns in wildfire country. This fire was 5 miles crosswind from our house and just monitoring the situation was sufficient. 5 miles upwind and I'd have had the truck loaded and ready to go.

 

[mountainsoft]

We don't have a go bag, but do have a list of things to take in an emergency. Things like purse, wallet, photos, medications, etc. If time allows, it also includes a list of sentimental items we would grab.

We had to evacuate for a few days a couple years ago when a wildfire flared up in our area. We packed both cars and my utility trailer with just about everything we owned. Food, clothes, computers, sentimental items, yard tools, kitchen accessories, you name it. That was overkill and I don't think we would go to that extreme again. We just panicked and grabbed everything we could think of. If there was still room, grab something else to take...

Most of our irreplaceable things are digital (photos, home movies, financial records, etc.) and I already keep backups in our safe deposit box at the bank. So even if we weren't home when a disaster hit, we wouldn't lose everything.

After the fire we reevaluated our response and realized we probably wouldn't want to move back here if the forest and house were all burned down. The beauty and peacefulness we live here for would be gone. Our home means a lot to us because we built it with our own hands. We're too old to do that again, and having a professional built home just wouldn't be the same. We might as well live anywhere.